Can Boot-Blacks And Scrap Peddlers Be Far Behind?

Dire economic times are linked with a rise in the cobbling arts:

As New Yorkers cut back on spending and cobble together their cash, the city’s shoe repair stores are getting an unexpected boost.

“It’s getting better and better,” said Cesar Andrade, who owns Andrade Shoe Repair in the West Village.

“We’ve been getting more customers for the past two or three months, and they’re coming in with more expensive shoes to be repaired.”

As people look for ways to tighten their belts, splurging on a new $150 pair of shoes or boots is no longer an option, says John McLoughlin, president of the Shoe Service Institute of America.

The roughly 7,000 cobblers nationwide are all reporting soaring trade and many of those doing so are here in New York City.

“It’s tough to go and buy a new pair of shoes. I’ll leave these and pick them up tomorrow and they will look like new,” said Kathleen Owen, 30, a financial adviser who always brings her worn out heels to Gary’s Top Shoe Repair in Rockefeller Center.

“I’m a New York City woman, and I hit the pavement a lot. I would not be able to afford nice shoes every time the soles get holes.”

Igor Nabatov, her regular cobbler, has been giving shoes a new lease of life for 17 years and says he has seen a 15% increase in business this year.